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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | October 2007 
New Tequilas Pour Forth To Meet Growing Worldwide Demand
 Laurence Iliff - The Dallas Morning News
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Mexico City - Lifelong Texan Neal Alan Williamson got into the tequila business mostly by accident.
After he was hired to help some distillers in Jalisco state in southwest Mexico find distribution channels in Asia, he quickly fell in love with the complex spirit.
One distiller gave him the opportunity to develop and market his own brand, and the next thing he knew, he was "in with both feet."
His brand, Tequilame, is set to arrive in Dallas this month.
As tequila takes its place alongside fine cognacs in global markets, its popularity is skyrocketing, especially at the high end. And new players are coming into a once-staid industry, including two Texans, a Philadelphia restaurant owner and Sammy Hagar, the former singer of Van Halen.
Huge liquor firms - such as Brown-Foreman of Louisville, Ky., and Beam Global Spirits and Wine of Illinois - now control most of the top 10 tequila producers.
Big producers are opening global markets at a rapid pace. Last year, tequila production was at its highest ever at an estimated 220 million liters, compared with 190 million in 1999, according to official figures. A liter is 1.05 quarts.
QUALITY CONCERNS
The rapid growth has some traditional producers worried about the quality of tequila - particularly given the wild production cycles for blue agave, the raw material for the drink.
Some producers are giving in to the temptation to make tequila from 51 percent agave sugars and 49 percent other sugars, the minimum required to use the name tequila. The blended tequilas are called mixtos and have traditionally been used for margaritas.
PROS AND CONS
"Short term, I see many gains," said Fernando Gonzalez, who makes Siete Leguas tequila and was the first producer of the tequila Patr๓n, which is highly regarded in the United States. "But over time, we may face many problems, particularly image problems, because customers may get turned off by some of the bad quality of the products they are tasting."
Big distillers insist they are creating traditional, high-quality tequilas, especially at the premium level. For example, there is a new "extra anejo" designation for top-of-the-line tequilas that must be aged at least three years.
And the growth in the premium market means that far more tequila is made from 100 percent agave now than a decade ago, according to industry figures.
"Americans have an unprecedented number of tequila choices, particularly super premium," said Ana Jovancicevic, a spokeswoman for the Distilled Spirits Council. "The challenge is finding the right one to fit their tastes."
Williamson, a product designer and marketer, doesn't want to take shots at competitors. But he acknowledges that while some new producers are committed to an industry that goes back centuries, others are looking for a quick buck.
AUTHENTICITY IN DOUBT
"Some brands are more connected to something that brings it back to its origin and culture, and some brands have nothing to do with that," said Williamson, whose company is based in San Antonio. "I wouldn't drink a mixto if you gave it to me for free."
Tequilame, which could be interpreted as "hit me with tequila," now has an extra anejo and soon will release an unaged white tequila, both made from 100 percent agave.
Philadelphia restaurant owner David Suro - a native of Jalisco, where most tequila is made - has long admired the sea of blue agave fields used to produce the spirit.
But as Suro's tequila, Siembra Azul, tries to move into Texas from its East Coast base, the landscape concerns him.
In many fields, agave plants lie rotting due to oversupply. In others, farmers have destroyed their agave crops, replacing them with corn as ethanol production pushes up prices for the grain.
And since the agave takes a decade to mature, a shortage could be around the corner, creating new pressure to make "mixed" tequilas.
"The large companies prefer to mix the tequila because they know that, sooner or later, the price of agave is going to rise and they will make more profit in the long run," he said.
Some tequila watchers worry that sudden popularity could transform tequila in the wrong way.
"Tequila is no longer just Mexico's drink but a drink that's making its way around the world," said Rogelio Luna-Zamora, a professor at the University of Guadalajara who has spent more than 20 years researching the social, economic and cultural impact of tequila.
'TRUE TO ITS ROOTS'
"We have to be very careful about quality control and about keeping the drink true to its roots. Otherwise, tequila's fame will be short-lived."
There are more than 700 tequila makers in Mexico, according to the industry-run Tequila Regulatory Council.
In 2006, 106.9 million liters of tequila were exported to the United States, a 23 percent increase over 2005, according to Judith Meza, a representative of the Tequila Regulatory Council in the Washington, D.C., office. Tequila entered the top 10 of liquors in the world five years ago, she said.
Although the biggest tequila producer, Cuervo, remains in Mexican hands, global companies have gobbled up its rivals.
Earlier this year, Brown-Foreman bought one of Mexico's most iconic tequila brands, Herradura, for $876 million.
Back in Suro's factory in Arandas, Jalisco, the sounds of Mozart and Vivaldi fill his factory.
Master distiller Leopoldo Solis says the music isn't for the employees.
"Tequila has a passionate soul," he said. "It's important that we understand the soul and, more importantly, enrich and serenade the soul with classical music." |
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